Lourdes Direct: Opening Mass

24 August 2008

The opening Mass - to officially begin the diocesan pilgrimage - has been celebrated by Bishop Declan.  We bring you a podcast direct from Lourdes to give you an idea of what the open-air Mass was like.

Bishop Declan is leading the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes this week (Friday 22 August to Friday 29 August).  He is joined by many Catholics from the West of England marking the 150th anniversary of the French town becoming a place of pilgrimage.

cliftondiocese.com is bringing you regular podcasts and pictures from Lourdes - so people back home can feel that they are part of the pilgrimage.

You can listen to our podcast in the multimedia panel on the right.  You can experience what it was like to be part of the congregation, enjoy the singing and listen to some of Bishop Declan’s homily. 

We have pictures of the opening Mass.  They can be viewed in the image gallery - just click on the small photographs for the full picture.

Yesterday we brought you news of the pilgrims’ arrival and earlier today Bishop Declan encapsulated the Lourdes story in a special podcast. 

Throughout the year a series of podcasts entitled ‘Lourdes Lives’ has been published weekly on cliftondiocese.com.  ‘Lourdes Lives’ features local people who have visited Lourdes talking about their, sometimes life changing, experiences.